The Father
General The Father is the enigmatic focus of worship for The Holy Congregation of the Father. He is a powerful deity who first appeared around 250 years ago, saving the world from the Chaos and establishing the Congregation in an event now known as the Great Reordering. He is often depicted in artwork as a kind, handsome, middle aged human man, accompanied by his first four original Harbingers. He is known to manifest himself in the material world as divine blessings granted to higher ranking followers of the Congregation. He is portrayed as being kind and nurturing to his subjects and aggressive and vindictive towards anyone who does not follow the way. History Mortal Life Not much is known about the Father's history other than what is written down in the Scripture. According to the Antiquities, the Father was once a mortal man, living in a godless world. Before his ascension, the world was disorderly, savage, and blasphemous. Kings tortured their subjects and death and pestilence plagued their streets. Orcs and goblins raided and raped and pillaged without any resistance. The world was dying long before the Chaos. When the Father was born, there was something special about him, something unusual. Anyone in his presence felt strangely hopeful, a feeling long forgotten in a miserable time. In the Father's time as a young adult, he was kind and nurturing, helping out the sick and poor and challenging the cruelty of the men in power. Despite his kindness, no one dared to return it. The rulers of the world, evil, greedy men who desired nothing but power, despised the Father's supernatural kindness and threatened the death of anyone who helped him. However, even with the threat of death hanging over their heads, four individuals with infallible spirit and strength of heart stepped forward to the Father's aid. These individuals would become the first Harbingers, shining beacons of the Father's graciousness. With the help of his followers, the Father continued to help a sick dying world. His deeds caught the attention of the cruelest, most vindictive King of them all, a man named Primus. Primus saw as more and more people aligned themselves with this kind figure and made it his mission to stop it. Primus disguised himself as a poor beggar on the streets, soliciting money from passerby. The Father, seeing no harm being accompanied by his followers, went to place a gold coin in the beggar's cup. As he reached out, Primus quickly shoved a dagger into the Father's heart, leaving him to bleed out. The Father's harbingers quickly reacted, stopping Primus from escaping and killing him. However, it was too late, and the Father had died. The Chaos With the last amount of hope in the world snuffed out, the universe began to fall apart. Time was distorted and days lasted for weeks, cracks appeared in the ground as gravity itself began to fluctuate, and magic began to fail as spells backfired. The world had truly ascended into madness, and everyone, from peasant to king alike, was afraid. This event became collectively known as the Chaos. Despite physically dying, the Father was not gone from the world. His spirit, more powerful than his body could possibly ever be, still remained. Seeing the chaos and destruction, the Father manifested himself before the frightened people of the world and declared them saved, as they were his children and he would do everything in his power to save them. Utilizing all of his power and strength, the Father used his divine presence to repair the dying world, severely weakening himself in the process. This event is known as The Great Reordering. Soon, the saved people began to worship him as a God, and the Congregation was established in his honor, the Father's original harbingers spreading the word. The Father created a place for himself to rest, another plane of existence entirely called "The Supreme Throne", a massive palace with all the comforts the Father would need to recover. It is said that when a true believer passes away, the go to live with the Father and experience true comfort for eternity. Powers and Abilities The Father is a divine being of near infinite divine capability. His power is infallible and absolute. True believers, such as Paladins and Harbingers, are given gifts from the Father, including the ability to see through all illusions, force others to tell truth, heal the sick, and smite their enemies with incredible power. The Father himself is considered immortal, as he has already died, death has no power over him. The Truth "The Father" is a moniker adopted by the evil, manipulative trickster god Cyric. Using the power of the Last Word, Cyric killed all other gods and destroyed the outer planes of existence, as a final blow to the power of the gods. This event resulted in the Chaos. However, this was a part of Cyric's plan, who used his absolute power to allow the world to live on without a connection to the outer planes. With his abilities, Cyric used his enslaved companions, the four original PC's, to establish the Congregation. He then used his power to alter history both written and oral, establishing himself as the only God there ever was and ever will be. But you didn't hear that from me.